First post on the forums so let’s see how this goes:
Anyway, I’m a high school freshman at an IB school, and since course selection has finally rolled around for sophomore year, I’ve begun to make a plan of the courses I want to take. Because my school is bizarre, the course selection is a little confusing and I’m afraid I’ll overfill my schedule.
I’ve been able to test up in math and French, so I’ll be starting both IB Math and IB French I sophomore year. AP Gov is also a prerequisite for the IB history track, so I’m required to take that too. Currently, the decision rests in whether or not I want to take Math SL or HL, each would give me a different high school math track:
Accelerated track (via HL): IB Math HL I -> IB Math HL II -> Multivariable Calc/Linear Algebra (extra course offered post-IB)
Somewhat-less-accelerated-but-still-faster-than-most-people-track (via SL): IB Math SL I -> IB Math HL I -> IB Math HL II
So the real question is, is it worth being so utterly destroyed sophomore year by IB French, AP Gov, and IB Math HL just to do multivariable calc?
That depends on whether or not math is something you really like. I’m not a math person, so I fulfilled my IB requirement with Math SL - which even I thought wasn’t too hard. If math is something you genuinely like, or that you want to go into in college, I think you should try the HL track. If you’re going to take HL at some point anyways, you might find SL to be a waste of your time.
Thanks!
So far I’ve just taken through Algebra II, and I pick up the material fast, but my teacher has recommended that “I could do well in either.” -__- really no help at all. Anyway, it’s all a question of how much work I want to do now.
Apparently, multivariable is super easy, so math would be about two years of hell and senior year would be relaxing. Similar thing with French, which is why I’m taking it. And as far as passions go, I understand and enjoy math but I’m definitely a language person.
Hm… In that case, you might want to take a pre-calc class over the summer, either way. Like I said, I was in math SL, and it wasn’t bad - but I can’t imagine having taken it without a pre-calc credit. Maybe look a little closer at the SL option? That would cover a lot of the pre-calc material, along with some stats, only you would be learning it for the first time instead of reviewing some pre-calc stuff. I’m sure you’ll be fine, whatever you choose!
If math is pretty easy for you, you might want to try HL for a few weeks and see if you need to drop after that.
Also, don’t be scared of the IB French. I also skipped a level to go into IB Spanish SL, and it was way easier than I thought - almost literally a review of the last year. It all depends on the school’s curriculum, whether you summer-studied, etc., but I really think you’ll be fine with the language. The only real difference is usually that you have to do a lot more writing, so you might want to practice that a little before school starts!
The IB HL sequence appears to be precalculus and calculus (and a high enough score on the IB HL test is often accepted by colleges for a year of frosh calculus), although IB courses seem to have very high workloads compared to the material in question (which may be why the post-IB courses are “easy” – they probably have less work, whether or not the material is more or less difficult).
Do multivariable calculus and linear algebra come with college credit? There is generally little or no opportunity to get credit or placement for post-IB (or AP) high school courses that do not come with college credit (although some colleges offer credit or placement by exam in some subjects). However, math beyond frosh calculus is not generally needed if your major is not in the physical sciences, engineering, math, statistics, computer science, or (pre-PhD) economics.
And no, Multi Var/Linear Algebra do not offer credit, but I’m curious about the overlap between this course and the AP BC Calc exam. It might be possible to earn credit that way. In fact, I’m curious about AP/IB overlap in English as well.
Still crossing my fingers for Brown! Waiting to hear back in April.
I can’t speak to the AP Calc overlap, but I do know a bit about the English department. I’m in IB English HL, and it seems like the main difference between AP and IB is the writing style they go for. In IB, we write “commentaries”, where we are supposed to “dwell on the language” of the work. You need to analyze particular words and their meaning to the passage and look at more abstract ideas. You also need to do oral commentaries as part of the IB requirement, where you analyze a piece of writing in a recorded conversation with a teacher. I have a lot of friends in AP, and it seems like AP classes place more emphasis on timed writing and/ or literary terms (symbolism, imagery, etc.). Again, this might vary between schools.
As far as actual material goes, I don’t think there’s much difference in the kinds of books we read. Some AP English classes have you read and analyze articles as well.
IB math HL and AP calculus BC (with high enough scores) are generally considered duplicates of each other for credit and/or placement. Colleges that allow them for credit and/or placement typically see them as covering frosh calculus. Neither is considered coverage of multivariable calculus or linear algebra.
If you are doing well in algebra 2 in 9th grade, the typical expectation would be to complete calculus (i.e. IB math HL 2 or AP calculus BC) in 11th grade. So what your high school calls the “accelerated” track seems normal for a student at your advanced level in math.
The reason our teachers make it seemed so accelerated is because we’re still required to take the IB HL II Exam in senior year whether we’re in multi var or IB HL II. It’s really just a discreet way to convince kids to not go beyond the IB course track, which always seemed kind of weird to me.
IB HL is “harder” (more in-depth) than BC. Since you’re still a freshman in Algebra2, would you consider taking Precalc before taking HL? It’s really not recommended to start HL without precalc - that’s why the “accelerated” version may be SL-HL1->HL2. HL is really difficult.
(A good comparison would be SL1= honors precalc, SL2= calculus/AB; HL1= expedited precalc review + calc, HL= BC+)
The HL1-> HL2-> Multivariable (ie., 2nd year college math) would be useful if you plan to apply to super selective stem schools, ie., Caltech, MIT, HarveyMudd, etc. and/or plan to do a math or stem major at a top25 university. If you plan on studying math or engineering and you feel that you can study precalc over the summer (or your current teacher can tutor you during the Spring) then the HL track may be worth it.
In all other cases, SL-> HL1->HL2 already puts you ahead by roughly 2 years compared to the “normal yet college ready” curriculum (where precalculus or SL1+2 would be entirely fine including for Harvard.)
I highly recommend you take the AP Calculus BC test if you want to get credit as its extremely hard to get a 6 or 7 in the final IB HL maths exam (it’ screws over most people!).
@MYOS1634 Sure it’s difficult to start of doing well in HL maths if you haven’t done pre-calculus but most people in my school take the British equivalent of algebra 2/trigonometry (IGCSE extended maths) before starting the class. Some struggle in the beginning some don’t (depends on how good they are at maths). But most people that study the British curriculum definitely haven’t taken a class equivalent to pre-calculus prior to starting HL maths.
So if you’re interested in taking HL maths don’t let the fact that you haven’t taken pre-calculus stop you as pre-calculus is part of the HL maths syllabus.
And don’t worry, IB Language B courses aren’t all that difficult. The courses that are reputed to be really difficult are HL Maths (believed to be the most difficult), HL physics, HL chemistry, HL English Literature, HL History (literature and history are by far the hardest to get a 7 in, statistically. <- I wouldn’t recommend taking a combination of these higher levels, you’re better off taking two hard higher levels and one easy one (e,g, economics, language B, geography, biology etc).
^Actually, ICGSE Extended Math IS precalculus (not at in-depth honors level but it does cover more than Algebra 2 and is an adequate bridge class for HL, even if students would be expected to struggle at first due to some missing material, presumably made up with ability. For example, in Extended ir sems you cover inequalities, quadratic equations, linear equations with 2 unknowns, use function notation, have pretty in-depth coordinate geometry notions, vector with scalars, vector magnitude, matrices, sequences… The only thing you don’t have is the introduction to limits, I think.)
OP, can you look at the ICGSE extended Maths curriculum and see if if looks like what you’re doing?
Going into HL without precalc would be like going into HL without Extended Maths, straight from “regular GCSE maths”.
OP could still do it if s/he were to take Precalc online over the summer, so that the expedited precalc review at the beginning of HL would be sufficient.
@MYOS1634 I guess so but its definitely not in as much detail. I’ve got a barrons pre-calculus book and am studying for the SAT Maths Level 2 (using barrons too) and definitely haven’t learn’t any of the material in the book prior to taking SL Maths. We did cover the topics you mentioned but it only the basics - you definitely wouldn’t be able to deduce that from purely looking at the syllabus. It actually looks more complicated then it is haha! Are you confusing extended maths with additional maths? The IGCSE additional maths course is the equivalent of pre-calculus.
